The Republican-led United States Senate has voted to overturn President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, in a move that challenges his use of emergency powers to justify trade restrictions against the South American nation.

Senators passed the measure on Tuesday by 52 votes to 48, with five Republicans joining Democrats in support. The legislation seeks to terminate the national emergency that Trump declared in July, which authorised steep tariffs on Brazilian imports in response to Brazil’s prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro for his alleged role in a coup attempt.

The vote comes as the Senate prepares to consider two additional bills this week that would reverse Trump’s tariffs on Canada and other trading partners. The Brazil measure now advances to the House of Representatives, which remains under Republican control and is expected to block the bill from proceeding further.

Senate Democrats have accused Trump of abusing emergency powers to impose tariffs that have increased consumer prices across sectors ranging from energy and construction to food and healthcare. 

Republican senators Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, and Thom Tillis broke ranks to support the measure, while others warned it could undermine the president’s trade leverage ahead of negotiations with foreign partners.

The Senate vote coincided with Trump’s five-day trip to Asia, where he is meeting leaders in Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea ahead of trade discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week.

Brazilian officials have previously noted that the US maintained a 410 billion US dollar trade surplus with Brazil over the past 15 years. Despite Trump’s hardline stance, he said last week that he would consider easing tariffs “under the right circumstances.”

In April, the Senate approved a similar bill to end tariffs on Canada, but the House blocked it, alongside another measure seeking to curtail the president’s broader trade powers.